


PAPER BOATS; in the middle of the night

by MariposaMonarca



Category: Powerpuff Girls
Genre: F/M, Sween Night Song
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:28:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 22,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28047717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MariposaMonarca/pseuds/MariposaMonarca
Summary: Brick has suffered a lot since the loss of one of his brothers, and since then he has worked hard to get out of the hole he was in, working as a potter, becoming the owner of the most visited and profitable pottery store in the city. One day a redheaded girl appears asking for help with a pot and tells him that it is the work of destiny.
Relationships: Brick/Blossom Utonium
Kudos: 18





	1. OO

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [BARCOS DE PAPEL; en mitad de la noche](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/725709) by Mariposa Monarca. 



> This is based on "Sweet Night" by V (BTS).

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On my pillow can't get me tired.  
> Sharing my fragile truth that I still hope the door is open.

Waking up involved Brick in a horrible and unfortunate ordeal. He would pucker his nose, pull back his hair and sit up in bed. The position of the bed was aligned with the sunrise, so that one could say that he was reborn with the sun every day, which was destined to die at night. He would wait ten seconds and get out of bed. As soon as the cold water made contact with his head, he realized that his time had not yet come, that he would have to continue surviving one more day. No one could understand his suffering, because he didn't even speak, but those who knew him for some time knew the reason for his misfortune.

Butch and Boomer were always with him, but not physically; he didn't like to detail the facts, and didn't like to remember them either, because inevitably, good memories brought with them bad ones and the terrible memory with which he had innumerable nightmares. He was not recommended, even less if we consider that not much time has passed since the traumatic event. Neither of them was dead, in case you were thinking about it, but one of those two had a destiny as tragic as death, and with the other, they could not see each other because of how tight their itinerary was and how far they had to be from each other. Thus, Brick felt that he was alone, all alone, waiting and counting every second until the day came when he could return to life in the exclusive company of his brothers. As he waited, he went through his hellish, tormented routine.

His pottery store was always open from half past nine in the morning, then closed at one, reopened at two and finally closed at seven in the evening. It wasn't worth having the store open past that time, who would want to buy a terracotta appliance that late? Unless it was a gift at the last minute, but that was not a very likely scenario, especially in a town with so few inhabitants.

He covered his hair with a red handkerchief, after having tied his mane in a small ponytail. Mitch, the receptionist, always arrived at the moment when he lifted the curtain of the store, and that day was no exception.

"Good morning, boss!" said Mitch, raising one arm.

"Good morning, Mitch," he smiled and stepped aside to let the boy in. It's nice weather today," he looked out again, the town was beginning to move, "maybe today we'll beat yesterday's five sales".

"Five sales," sighed Mitch, "can you believe how happy we were with five sales?"

"I feel the profit was a lot," he looked at his worker as he crossed his arms.

"Of course it was! The whole boulevard sells more than five items a day, but they don't meet our goals, hopefully they're halfway there".

"The pottery market is gaining recognition these days, however, it won't be that successful forever. At some point, we will be stranded. We will have to reinvent ourselves".

Brick's store, called "Pottery B", a somewhat pretentious and possibly problematic name, was lit by three warm lanterns, which only came on if the sunlight was not in their favor. The products were arranged in three columns, on the right and left walls and one in the center. The payment desk was located at the back, from there Mitch controlled who was entering and could see if anyone tried to steal, however, that had not happened and Brick hoped it would never happen. The smaller objects, and therefore the more expensive ones, especially those that were made of porcelain, were in a display case on the right wall, thus remaining to Mitch's left. And behind the counter, there were two doors, one leading to the bathroom, and the other to the workshop where Brick worked.

"What are today's goals, boss?" Mitch asked, putting on his white apron, "I guess we have projections, more than _maybe exceeding yesterday's five sales_ ".

"My projection... is that we will sell _five and one more_ ".

Mitch looked at him puzzled, shaking his head a little at a strange Brick.

"Do you mean six?"

"Yes," he said strangely, " _f_ _ive and one more_ "

"How's that for " _one_ _more_ "?"

But Mitch got no answer, because they heard the bell ringing every time someone entered the store. It was an old lady, Mitch quickly approached the woman, while Brick went to his workshop. That's how the routine in Brick's store developed: he worked on making porcelain pots and dishes (which took more time and dedication because of their delicacy), while Mitch was in charge of customer interactions, recording sales and making sure to file special orders that customers sometimes placed.

His hands were already wet, he rubbed them and sat down in front of the pile of mud that was ready to be molded into a medium sized vase. The process began with the usual delicacy. Hands together pressing lightly with the thumbs to hollow out, then only with one hand while the other gave it a circular shape on the outside so that it could be widened, and then he would lift, being careful not to leave any thickness. The most complicated part for Brick was always the neck of the vessels, he had to make sure not to make them so thin, he didn't worry that the edge would be uneven, that was cut with a thread, but the body had to meet his highest demands, not for nothing he had the reputation he had, because of how perfect his creations were. In the end, the vessel ended with a flawless cut, Brick sighed with relief every time he saw his work finished. That's how his work days were, he only had Sunday off, but if he had time, he would go down to his workshop and start creating, he was lucky enough to have been able to rent the floor together with the premises in the same building.

The day progressed, Brick dedicated himself to painting the vessels already baked at 350 degrees while Mitch attended and did the shopping, until the sun went down and there were five minutes left until seven o'clock in the evening. Mitch was in charge of warning him, so, like every day, he knocked on the door and poked his head out.

"Boss, it's time".

"Right," he said and stood up, leaving the brushes next to his painted vases. "I'll help you close".

"The sales were good. We made it to five again," Brick smiled contentedly, "but so far, we didn't make it to "five plus one" anyway, what did you mean by that?"

"Wasn't there a special order?" Brick asked, removing the brush that was resting between his ear and his head.

"No".

"Oh... Well, I thought we'd make five sales and one external order".

"So that's what you meant," smiled Mitch. "All right, we better close up so we can present you with today's balance sheet".

"Okay".

He left his workshop, but did not take off his apron as he intended to paint, at least, the base of a vase he had left half-way through with the color yellow. Mitch lowered the window curtains while Brick ran some gondolas from the door and made sure to remove the copies from the window.

"The balance of sales is in the counter," said Mitch, so Brick went over there. "We made less than yesterday, but it doesn't seem like a bad number to me".

Brick had to bring the notebook a little closer to himself to see the numbers. Obviously they earned twenty percent less than yesterday, Monday, but they were still above average sales, so Brick smiled and looked at Mitch. None of them could tell that someone was running and that, with her heavy breathing, she was hoping to get to his store on time.

"We're still on a roll, I think the pay will be better this month," he said. "Maybe I could hire someone else and give you more breaks".

"Don't worry about me, boss, I have a great time working for you. It's better than putting up with my family," Mitch said, then left the big blue vase with white flowers on the side of the left arrangement. "I think that's it".

"Good job, Mitch".

"Good job, boss..."

But Mitch was interrupted by a tired female scream that seemed to have a bit of desperation in its speech.

"Good afternoon! -Or evening! Please help me!"

Both boys looked at the door that opened wide, Brick feared for his artifacts, but neither seemed to be harmed by the loud door slamming.

"I'm sorry, miss, it's closed now," said Mitch calmly.

"I've broken the chinaware we're going to use in the theater! My show is in half an hour! Please! I have money!"

Brick looked at the girl and his eyes opened more due to the surprise. The same redheaded girl that had appeared before him, her red cheeks as a result of fatigue, her chest that went up and down under her white blouse, she was wearing a blue skirt that reached the height of her knee, white socks and the unmistakable mary jane. She looked back at him, repairing from her simple brown shoes, the baggy jeans, the black apron with mud stains and the occasional paint job and the red scarf with which she tried to get her hair out of her face.

"You? -You work here?" exclaimed the red-haired girl. "It can't be... This is fate!"

Mitch didn't understand what was going on, but Brick, on the other hand, had an idea. The girl with the messy hair from the bullfight, with that thunderous entrance, was not only marking physical presence in the store, but he feared it meant she would now mark a physical presence in his life.

Or could it be that it was just a new coincidence? The truth is, that's what he wanted to believe.

"Welcome to Pottery B," Brick said to Mitch's surprise, "What can we do for you?"


	2. O1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'Cause the window opened one time with you and me.  
> Now my forever's falling down,  
> wondering if you'd want me now.

Let's go back to about three weeks ago, the beginning of April, when spring was beginning to be felt more intensely. Brick finished going to the post office to send some letters, but as always, he regretted it before entering the office, placed the beret on his head, put the two envelopes in his leather bag and walked back home. He clearly regretted it, he knew he had to communicate, give signs of life, however, he thought that all that time he wasted writing and going to the post office could be used to create more art in clay or porcelain, sell it and earn more money. He needed the money, his brothers needed the money, so he, as the eldest of the three, would make sure that he collected a lot of money to be able to solve the problems they had and could come up with.

"I'll do everything for you guys, just wait," he said quietly as he hurried to the store to help Mitch and paint the porcelain he left ready for work.

During that morning, and at that time, he used to wander the streets of the city looking for inspiration. His creations were always painted with flowers and leaves, as well as always relying on geometric figures. He didn't want to seem repetitive, that's why he was in constant artistic discovery, but inspiration was a limited resource, and for his works, he only kept flowers, leaves and geometry. At the moment he was doing well, so he could continue to use it for a while, he still had time, he could reinvent himself at any time, he wasn't going to drop it again.

Then came Sunday, Mitch was probably resting or having a good time with his family, who he liked to complain about so much, but Brick knew that deep down he loved them, especially the girl who would become his wife. What was her name again? He couldn't remember, he felt like the worst boss in the world. If every Sunday Brick thought about taking advantage of the time to get a head start on work, that Sunday meant a "now or never" regarding the future of his own relationship, if we can call it that. Princess, a very pretty girl, too pretty, had been infatuated with him for a long time, and for half a year they had been dating, but in secret from her parents, since they wanted their daughter to marry a good man, not a potter "who could only give her mud and paint stains for her precious and expensive silk garments". He couldn't understand why he kept seeing her, if the truth was that his interest in her was lost after hearing those comments from her own mouth! Was the love he had for himself so little? It could be. In his mind there was only the idea of collecting a lot of money and getting back together with his brothers.

They were going to meet in the minor square, one to which Princess' parents nor anyone from her social circle would go for pleasure, so it was perfect for them to meet in that place, instead of in the apartment she got for secret meetings with him, and that is because from the beginning it was all secret, starting with a visit to his store after having ruined a piece of porcelain from her grandmother's mug set, until the moment she went to see him, again, and ask him for a date. Princess always hid her pretty face and pretty figure with a greenish cape, so no one would think she was a fine girl, but any girl who lived in a neighborhood near the boulevard.

Brick was walking, he was incredibly tired, he wanted his date with Princess to be as short as possible, in fact, he was starting to wish she would finish him off soon, so he wouldn't feel committed to spending time with her, meaning that he was wasting "valuable work time". He was walking along the waterfront, he was already making his way to the river. It was still too early for the sun to set, in fact, he cursed that it was not, he would have liked to have watched, even for a few seconds, the sky turn purple, violet, pink, those beautiful sunsets that not even a recognized artist could portray perfectly in any of his paintings. They were of those sunsets that reminded you that you were still a living being, and that invited you to be grateful, otherwise you would not be able to admire great beauty.

So, now, he was left with two possible scenarios: that his date with Princess would last a long time, so that they could watch the sunset together, or that it would end sooner so that he could enjoy without any problem, in his loneliness, the landscape he longed to see. When he arrived at the square, he sat on the bench next to the fountain that was full of mold: it didn't work, but it still had water. It was supposed to be maintained, but since it wasn't the main square, it didn't matter if it took weeks to maintain, right? He looked around, the wind started blowing slightly, and his hair was a little bit shaggy, but just by combing his hair back, the problem was over. Brick fixed the collar of his white shirt a bit, rested his elbows on his knees and waited, waited and waited. After half an hour, timed by the clock in the church next to the square, he got the idea that there was a chance that Princess might not come to the meeting. When an hour passed and the clock struck 7:30, Brick stood up, shook his pants and made his way to the bridge, where he thought he would see the sunset. He was upset, he lost time from work.

" _If you don't get there, it means it's over for us_ ," that's what Princess told him, frowning and wrinkling her nose, making the freckles on her face look like they were coming together. Ironically, she was the one who didn't show up for the date, which meant, for Brick, that she was ending their short relationship.

Once he reached the concrete bridge, he rubbed his hands together before putting them on the railing. His eyes, fixed on the sky, went from white clouds to those that seemed to be taken from a blurred drawing, the colors that the sunset was offering were warm, orange, pink and yellow, not even violet and blue made their appearances yet, giving Brick more time to admire those mixtures. The ambient noise of the city was light, the most he could hear was the river running, in the distance he could distinguish vehicles and other people's voices with nothing important to say, at least for him.

After a while, he felt like crying, although not for Princess. He put his thumb around the corners of his mouth, he didn't want to cry, really he didn't. He clenched his fists on the railing, took a big deep breath and exhaled hard trying, that way, to relax and not show weakness in front of strangers. He wanted to concentrate on noises to keep negative thoughts out of his head: the river, the wind in the leaves of nearby trees, children's laughter, angry voices, car engines, the sound of shoe soles pounding on the surface at a certain rate. In the face of the latter, Brick raised his head and tried to find the source of that sound. Not far from him, to his left, at the end of the staircase that gave you the possibility of being on the very edge of the river, a girl was skillfully moving her feet on the concrete of that base, she was tap dancing. If her steps sounded strong while she was practicing on a surface not suitable for tap, you could get the idea that the girl, in an ideal place, could provide a wonderful show, since she was moving at an attractive pace, it is not as if she was moving her feet madly, or if she was, it sounded fantastic. Brick was enraptured, he had even forgotten about the sunset.

The redheaded girl had her back to him, Brick could only see that she had her hair tied up with what looked like a red ribbon, that she was wearing black pants and a white blouse, but her face couldn't see it, so he couldn't even give her an approximation of her age. Until in a moment, the girl turns around, wipes the sweat from her forehead with her right forearm and smiles with satisfaction. He doesn't understand it, he can swear it was spontaneous, but he applauded her, keeping his serious look, smiling slightly, very lightly. She looked at him and the instant he smiled at her, Brick stopped applauding, he had become self-conscious.

"Thank you, audience!" she exclaimed. Brick just nodded.

It was then that he realized that he had lost his main focus, that this girl had captured the attention he had planned for the sunset, the beautiful sunset, the one that at that moment, was already dyeing itself with colder colors like violet. Brick sighed, it would be better to go home. He didn't notice if the girl was still looking at him or if she was doing something, he simply bowed to the sunset and started walking, just as the church bells in the main square rang in the distance. Brick was unable to hear the female voice asking him to stop, to wait for her.

**.  
.**

Now, going back to the initial time.

"You? -You work here?!" exclaimed the red-haired girl. "It can't be... This is fate!"

Mitch didn't understand what was happening, but Brick, instead, had an idea. The girl with the messy hair from the bullfight, with that thunderous entrance, was not only marking physical presence in the store, but he feared it meant she would now mark a physical presence in his life.

Or could it be that it was just a new coincidence? The truth is, that's what he wanted to believe.

"Welcome to Pottery B," Brick said to Mitch's surprise, "What can we do for you?"

"I broke a pot," said the girl showing a two-inch circular base that seemed to be widening upward, "and I really need one for my performance today".

"All right," Brick pointed to the arrangement on her right, "you can find one that fits your needs. Mitch, could you help her? Or, well, if you want to go..."

"No, boss," interrupted Mitch. "Leave it to me, I'll take care of the lady".

"Okay, then I'll take care of lowering the store window," Mitch nodded, while the girl kept her eyes on him".

"Miss," Mitch called her, "do you have a specific preference regarding the size of your pot?"

"She was, like, this tall," he marked the height of her knee, "shape doesn't matter much, but height does".

The girl didn't take her eyes off Mitch, but from time to time, she would turn to Brick, who, very focused, kept some things that were on the counter, such as ballots, notebooks, and the cards they had sent out with the store's contact number, name, and address. In the end, she chose a piece painted red with small white flowers and black lines pretending to be the stems.

"This is perfect," said the girl, "now how much does it cost?"

"A hundred and fifty," answered Mitch.

The joyful expression on the girl's face changed radically to one of surprise. She held the pot in her hands and looked at it carefully; she nodded at every detail, Mitch and Brick looked at each other in wonder, thought perhaps she thought the price was too high.

"This is really at the price you say," replied the girl, "but I'm only carrying a hundred now. Could it be that the rest I'll pay some other time? I can leave you my details and... Ah! What if you go to the theater instead? I can give your names and you can go for the money".

"I might as well write this sale down as an order," said Brick, "and you can pay for it tomorrow.

"Really?" she asked, ti which Brick nodded. "I'll leave all my contact information, but I can't come tomorrow, I have rehearsal all day".

"You're an actress, right?" asked Mitch".

"Tap dancer," she corrected, "I'm part of the "Powerfull" group that passes through town. My name is Blossom Utonium".

"Okay," interrupted Brick as he finished writing, "so, Miss Utonium, I wrote down the bill in our records. You can come tomorrow to pay, or send someone on your behalf".

"I appreciate it, but could I have a contact number?" asked Blossom.

"Boss," said Mitch, "I think you saved the cards".

"Yes, just a moment," he opened the drawer, picked up a card, and circled the counter to get close to the girl. "The phone is available from 9:30 a.m. onwards".

"I'll call around eleven tomorrow, I promise," said Blossom before putting the card in a pocket inside her skirt. "I can leave the hundred I have with me".

"We'd rather not," said Brick. "Now, wouldn't you rather have us help you with the product?"

"That would be great," he looked at Brick, "I don't think I can carry it by myself. Will you come with me?"

Brick became a little tense and nervous. Mitch noticed that his boss was not very good at socializing, especially when that meant making a change in his established plans, so much so that he knew perfectly well that as soon as he left, Brick would start painting, which is why he hadn't taken off his apron.

"My boss has to keep working, but if you don't mind, I can help you, Miss Utonium. Mitch Mitchelson, at your service"

"Great!" exclaimed Blossom. "I appreciate it".

Mitch took the pot in his hands, for him it wasn't so heavy, since he had gotten used to carrying that kind of material, besides, the theater wasn't so far from the boulevard.

"Boss, could you put my things away? I'll come and get them after I help the lady," said Mitch before leaving.

"I'll wait for you at my house, I want to close the store," Brick replied. "Be careful on the way back. Miss Utonium," he looked at the girl, "I hope you're doing your job well"

"I thank you. What is your name?"

"Brick, just Brick".

Blossom smiled at him, nodded, and then looked at Mitch, who was ready to leave. Brick didn't look away from them until they were out of his sight. He turned on his heels, leaving his face in front of the door of his workshop, took a big breath of air before picking up his things, Mitch's things, and leaving the store. He wanted to believe that by tomorrow, when the money issue was resolved, he wouldn't have to hear from that girl again. For some reason, seeing her again gave him an unpleasant feeling, but he was also somewhat happy.

Brick was unaware that this simple purchase was giving way to an important episode in his life, that after a long time, meeting Blossom Utonium was about to trigger a wheel of emotions that he thought he would no longer experience.


	3. O2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm wondering, are you my best friend?  
> Feels like a river's rushing through my mind  
> I wanna ask you if this is all just in my head  
> My heart is pounding tonight

Three weeks ago, on the night of that same day when a strange young man saw her practicing, Blossom walked through the streets of the city where she had decided to reside permanently. After the theater tour was over, the streetlights brought warmth to the streets, especially on that cold spring night, where also, despite the season, the fallen leaves of the trees adorned the landscape. She could not help but laugh, she was happy, immensely happy. For a moment she thought that the night was also smiling for her, because there was a new moon, it looked like a yellowish nail. She laughed a little, arranged her scarf and the collar of her T-shirt and continued looking at the sky. She didn't care if she crashed, she knew it was impossible because the streets were clear around that place at one in the morning. It was then that she realized that the stars had not wanted to show themselves, it was only possible to see those that always shone the brightest - and the planets, obviously - but no others.

“Oh, maybe they've already gone to sleep”.

Having those childish thoughts made her feel at home, it meant reliving conversations she might have had with one of her sisters. A chill ran through her body, the blizzard seemed to have no intention of being compassionate that night. She had to wait for the last bus at the stop a couple of blocks away. She had already been to those places on her own, so she was not afraid, although she should have been, because danger lurks everywhere. But Blossom was walking around, her hair was tied up in a bun, so that she looked like she was going to go on stage, and, in a worse instance, she avoided having her hair pulled out if she was going to be robbed.

The truth was that Blossom didn't understand why the buses passed by so late, if the people of that town didn't seem to be working late at night, then she understood that most of them used to work in the upper sector, working guard shifts, so they would change shifts at that time so that they could have transportation, at least that was what she understood one of the many nights she met men who worked in that area. That night, where she was supposed to wait for the bus in complete solitude at the bus stop, she noticed a man sitting there. The light, not being cold, did not allow her to see the subject's features clearly. Blossom could only see that it was a man with light hair, wearing a denim jacket that was not very suitable for that cold night. The man hid his head, resting his elbows on his legs, one of which moved up and down anxiously. Curious, she looked at him waiting for him to notice her presence, but he seemed to be lamenting. He was mumbling something, but she was unable to hear him. She kept looking at him and noticed that his body seemed to be shaking, for a moment she thought it was due to the movement of his leg, but after a stronger blizzard, she understood that it was cold.

She looked at her watch, quarter past one, the bus would be passing in three minutes because it was always so punctual. She looked at the man, but didn't look up. Should she talk to him? But what if he turned out to be a murderer, an assailant, a rapist? There was a lot to look out for, so she kept her distance from the man. A car's lights lit up the street, and Blossom knew it was her bus. She leaned a little to the street, the truth is she was looking for the man's attention, maybe he was waiting for the transport too, who knows? If she didn't warn him and he was under the vehicle, how would he get home? The only thing that would be left for him to do would be to call a cab on the phone that was two streets away, near the sector's boulevard.

She sighed loudly, but got no response from the man. She thought she could tap the floor, dancing, as she had done in the afternoon. If she could get the attention of the handsome dead-looking boy, why not that man? However, she was a little afraid, her heart was pounding. The man moved, but didn't raise his head, just pulled his jacket up and mumbled loudly enough for her to hear him.

“It's cold," he said, and she noticed the distressed tone.

Blossom stopped the bus, the man, despite being aware that the transport was in front of him, did not move, surely he did not need it. The bus stopped and the door opened. It was an impulse guided by the compassion of the moment, she took off her scarf and left it on the man's head.

“Good evening," she said and got on the bus, placed herself in one of the seats in the same row as the driver, so she couldn't see the man's reaction.

In the end, the man didn’t take the bus with her.

**.  
.**

Three times would mean that it is destiny, that is the "idea of life" that governs Blossom, but she could not consider as a third encounter the fact that Brick was at the reception of the theater, accompanied by Mitch, waiting for payment for the product she had bought from them. She had left the rehearsal after completing the call at eleven o'clock, and after two hours, Brick and Mitch were waiting just as she had asked them to.

“Good afternoon," she greeted them, "how are you?”

“Good afternoon, Miss Utonium," said Brick and extended his hand.

“So formal you are, Brick," she replied and shook his hand, then greeted Mitch.

“How was your performance? Did everything go well?” asked Mitch, the girl smiled.

“It went great, the vessel was perfect in the performance, really”.

Brick watched the girl as she spoke, from the line of expression around her mouth, like the ones that appeared in her eyes every time she smiled. She also used her hands to express herself, with one hand covering her mouth when she smiled while the other pointed to the large door leading to the stage. When she looked at him again, Brick opened his mouth a little when he noticed the pink color in her eyes.

Blossom," the three of them turned their heads to the male voice that was calling her. A tall, gray-haired man in a brown suit appeared behind the white door next to the reception, “Who are these young men?”

“Mr. Flower," said the girl walking up to him, "they are Brick and Mitch, the owners of the store where I bought the pot”.

“Correction," said Mitch, "the owner is him," he pointed to Brick, "I'm just his employee”.

“I remember seeing you yesterday," said Flower, shaking hands with the two young men, "the vase is beautiful. Where did you get it?”

“I make them," Brick said.

“I don't believe you!” said the man with surprise. “Are you serious? Do you have any more of that kind?”

We have varieties, please, when you have time go to our store”.

“Is it possible that you have seven of the same model?”

“Yes," said Brick, "and if not, I can make them”.

“Excuse me," said Mitch, "do you really want to buy seven?”

“Man, this theater is big and has five big halls, where we meet with the directors, the new companies that want to put their shows, an infinity. We have always been concerned about the sobriety of our halls, so we thought we'd decorate them a little. The vase that our dancer occupied attracted the attention of my fellow directors. Is it possible for us to close a business?”

“Mitch, the card," Brick asked, and he listened.

“Here," the man received the card for Mitch. “There's everything you need to contact us. If you're really interested in our services, you can call us”.

“Wait for my call, well, I'll leave you now, I have to get everything ready for today's closing presentation. Excuse me”.

“See you later, Mr. Flower," said the girl, while both young men said a simple "good-bye," then she turned to them and handed an envelope to Brick. “Here's all the money, Brick, thanks for the sale”.

“Thank you for preferring our products”.

“What's this about the closing show?” Mitch asked.

“¡Ah!" Blossom put her palms together. “Today is my last performance in the city, would you like to come and see me? I have a solo, there your attention will be only on me," she joked. “What do you say? I can ask for a discount on tickets”.

“Don't worry," said Brick, "I'll pay the real price of the tickets. What time is your performance?”

**.  
.**

The illuminated stage opened its curtains and the show began. At first, neither of the two young men understood what was happening in the story, because that was supposed to be a story. There was a woman dressed in red and a man with a suit and a cane, it seemed that he was courting her, all around, the dancers were all dressed in elegant dresses, except for the main one. Mitch drowned out a scream when he realized.

“The one in red is a prostitute," he whispered to Brick, "and she tries to blend into the society of high society women”.

As the story progressed, they spotted Blossom who, dressed as a "man", appeared on the scene, spying on the woman in red. The girl's role was to work for the mafia, who were the bosses of the man with the cane who appeared dancing with the woman in red in the beginning. Blossom's solo arrived, leaving only the space where she was moving illuminated, as if the light were following her. Brick recognized that tapping, the sound was best heard in a space with the right acoustics and on a suitable platform. As she danced, the implements that the girl would use to carry out the mission she was given appeared: to kill the girl in red. Brick didn't take his eyes off her, even when she left the stage and returned to the stage, he didn't pay attention to the main couple who were performing their final dance, he looked at Blossom who was waiting behind some boxes, exaggerating the movement of his breath to the rhythm of the drum, until she fired and the light stopped showing her, since all the spotlights were aimed at the main couple, where the girl in red was lying on the arms of her beloved. At the end of the play, everyone stood up, Brick looked at Mitch and realized that he was crying, very excited, he passed an arm over the shoulders of his co-worker as a consolation.

“I need to congratulate her personally," said Mitch between tears. “Do you think we can see her, boss?”

“If you want, we can try. Wait until we can get out of here and I promise we'll go ask for her, okay?”

It was more complicated than they thought, since they didn't know where they should go, at the reception they could only give information regarding the shows, the young woman who attended told them, annoyed, that "if you want to see the stars so much, wait until they come out of the dressing rooms", and that's what they were doing. Sitting on one of the benches outside the theater, Brick and Mitch waited while drinking a strawberry juice that the boss had bought from the food stands that were always located outside the cultural venues. Mitch had calmed down his crying, and now they were just waiting.

“Boss," says Mitch suddenly, "maybe we should go”.

“Are you sure?”

“The night is a little chilly”.

“What are you talking about, man, it's nice”.

“I have a question”.

“Tell me, what's up?”

“Are you still seeing Princess?”

Brick's calm countenance changed to a tense one, Mitch noticed and looked out the door of the theater.

“I'm sorry, I didn't know…”

“Don't worry, Mitch, you don't have to apologize for anything. The truth is that…”

“And what are you guys still doing here?”

They both looked at Blossom as she walked out of the theater, with a purse on her shoulder, her hair down and a yellow dress on. The boys stood up, Brick almost spilling his juice over his own jeans, while Mitch tried to hide behind him. Behind Blossom was a girl, brown hair and blue eyes, Brick recognized her as one of the high society ladies at the dance, the redhead realized she was turning her back on her friend and stepped aside.

“Robin, this is Mitch and Brick, the guys from the pottery store," said Blossom. “Guys, this is Robin, my dance partner and friend”.

“My pleasure," said the two young men.

“So tell me," Blossom insisted, "what are you still doing here?”

“We've been waiting for you, Mitch wanted to congratulate you, and so did I. The show was pretty good, especially your solo," Brick said without hesitation, making Blossom smile and bow a little.

“I appreciate it, you too, Mitch," said Blossom. “Well, since you're here, Robin and I were thinking of getting a drink at a bar nearby, would you like to go?”

“I don't know," shuddered Brick, "I'm not really in the mood”.

“Come on," said Robin for the first time on stage, "you guys stayed up until this hour waiting for Blossom to come out, it's not even eleven o'clock at night. At least share an hour with us”.

“I don't know about you, boss, but I'm going," said Mitch, offering his arms to Robin and Blossom after he threw the glass into the trash can. “Ladies?”

“Let's go," said Robin, grabbing Mitch's arm.

Blossom also took Mitch's arm, but nodded to Brick to go with them. There was no other way, and while it was true that Brick didn't feel like drinking, even if he took the non-alcoholic option, after Mitch asked him about Princess, his spirits were low, he wouldn't stop thinking about her, so a distraction would do? Especially if that distraction came from an invitation from a pink orb girl.

In the enclosure, they asked for the terrace, because the night was too pleasant to waste it in a closed enclosure. The table they got was not next to the railing as they would have liked, however, the whole city could be seen from there. The light show they witnessed was worth any kind of distraction. Brick could definitely watch that landscape for hours, without caring whether he was being accompanied or not. Red, yellow, white, green and three different shades of black, those were the colors he could identify. He would rub his hands together, wishing he had a canvas in front of him so he could portray what his eyes were seeing.

“Brick, what are you going to have?” Blossom's voice brought him to his reality.

He looked down at the barmaid who was laughing, while Mitch and Robin were engaged in conversation, Brick assumed he was the only one missing. What could he ask for? If he ordered something without alcohol, he could give the impression that he was being forced to be there, and he didn't want to make anyone feel bad, so he asked for the first thing that came into his head, something he had wanted to drink for a long time, but had never said.

“A sangria, please”.

He took a seat between Mitch and Blossom, standing in front of Robin, but the latter was not the least bit interested in sharing with him. Blossom looked at him, smiled at him, and Brick seemed to concentrate only on the color of her eyes. The redhead was good at making conversation, from her early days at the dance and her friendly relationship with her younger sisters. Brick, on the other hand, was not very good at socializing, especially if that meant making conversation. He preferred to listen, not be heard, since he did not feel his story should be understood by others. The pain was his own, because everything he had to remember about him brought with it pain, only pain.

Finally, Brick ended up drinking two sangria, past midnight, and with it, came the time they had to go home. Mitch offered to accompany Robin to her hostel, while Brick told Blossom he could do the same, but she refused, saying she would take a bus at the stop across the main street where they were meeting. Brick insisted on going with her; she agreed. They paid the bill, the girls took their bags, and everyone went their separate ways.

“Let me carry your bag," said Brick.

“You don't have to, the stop is there," Blossom pointed to the traffic light a relatively short distance away.

“Then to the stop”.

At the urging, Blossom relented. The bag wasn't that heavy, but Brick thought he should be considerate of her. After all, she was probably exhausted after the show, plus it was late, the tiredness would start to show, and if carrying the bag to the stop would ease the burden a bit, it would. She took the boy's arm, who made no trouble, and they walked quietly to the empty bus stop. They could still see people on the street, but in less quantity than a couple of hours ago. Vehicles were still passing by, however, no bus was visible at the moment.

“It's a shame we had to meet just as I was about to leave," said the girl sitting on the bench at the bus stop.

“You're right," said Brick. “I would have liked to see your presentation again”.

“Just that?” she asked, "Just my presentation?”

“Huh?”

Brick didn't understand the implication... No, actually he did, but he wanted Blossom to believe otherwise. The girl stirred in the seat, said nothing, smiled at him as she looked at him from head to toe. Brick, uncomfortable, looked away and bent over a bit to see if any buses were showing up, but no, there was no sign. It was at that moment, when Blossom was looking at Brick's neck, that she realized he had a scar, a big scar, that covered his left side and seemed to be part of his neck as well.

“What's that on your neck? A burn?” Brick looked at her, she was very surprised. “How did you get that?”

“An accident," he replied, playing down the importance.

“What kind of accident?” The young woman's tone of voice was serious, she didn't seem to give in, so, at the insistent question, Brick decided to ask her.

“Do you have time?”

**.  
.**

"I was born in Vilestown, my old man, a sixty year old man, raised my brothers and me. From the time I can remember he taught us to read, write, walk, dress, in short, what any father would do. We had no resources, but he always managed to get the money for the month, he worked as a baker, with my brothers we helped him deliver the orders and make the bread. Just the four of us, it was always the four of us. 

There was a time when Butch, the one in the middle, was asked to help out with a job at the Vilestown mine. He was very strong, really, they needed him to haul some ore because the barrow had broken down, or so they said. The pay was good, and we really needed the money, but our father said he had a bad feeling. From the beginning he told Butch to be careful, because my brother is very troublesome, in fact, he used to have conflicts with most of our neighbors and once he came to blows with a guy who lived across the street from us, I don't know if I can tell you the reason, but if it had happened to me, I would have given that guy a good hiding too. What we didn't know was that the problem wasn't going to be in Butch's new job, but that we were the ones at risk, yet that wasn't something we were aware of until the disaster happened.

Our house was in a simple neighborhood, the houses were together, sometimes we listened to what the neighbors were talking or doing, if they ran a piece of furniture, I assure you we heard it. One night, the last night before Butch came back, we arrived from the bakery. That simple meal, white rice with fish, was the best thing I've ever eaten. When we went to bed, I was anxious, I wanted to get up early so I could receive Butch, he had been away for two weeks, and the truth is that he was very worried because he told us that he had a conflict with one of the top brass sons. I wanted to make sure he ate right, cleaned up, and was able to sleep comfortably all day. At about 5 a.m., Butch was about to arrive in a couple more hours, so I couldn't sleep anymore so I got up and started preparing everything, from the materials we would take to work, to changing my brother's sheets. The three of us slept in the same room, and in case you are wondering if I woke Boomer up, I tell you no, he is a very heavy sleeper.

A crash was heard at our door, I looked out the window but saw no one. I thought it must have been a cat jumping onto the roof of our yard, I wanted to believe that it was. Boomer woke up and I asked him to get up so we could bring Dad breakfast in bed. It was a cold morning, we didn't want our old man to get sick, plus I thought we should give him a little love every once in a while. Boomer and I were on the first floor when we smelled something burning. We thought it was the kitchen, but it wasn't. I went out into the hallway and saw a light from the second floor. It wasn't a lamp light, it was a scary orange light. The blow I had felt was something they threw at our ceiling, I still don't understand how I didn't realize it was burning, how I wasn't able to be more aware of the smell it was giving off, it was burning, damn it!

I told Boomer to contact the fire department, I went upstairs to get our old man out. Fate didn't want us, damn it, it didn't want us at all. I only set foot on the second floor when a burning piece of the roof fell off, thus preventing me from getting to our old man's room. I shouted, I screamed.

“Dad!”

But I had no answer, I only heard him scream out of fear, he called my name, Boomer's name, Butch's name, that made me even more desperate. I asked him where he was, if he was still in his room, and he only answered with our names. The air was getting heavy, I was still on the stairs, I had no choice but to move in the middle of the fire, I was not aware of the burning I felt; I burned my neck, my left shoulder and part of my legs. I searched through the smoke and the burning wood that was falling, until I managed to find the old man's room. I thought we could jump out the window, but he didn't move, with his little breath, he just repeated our names. He was drowning. I was scared, I had my father in my arms, he was saying nothing but the names of his three children. I carried him on my back and looked at the roof of the backyard. If we jumped out, we would be locked in with no possibility of getting out, however, the second floor was still intact. The last thing I remember, was the sound of a crunch, how cold that sheet of zinc was, and that my father kept saying:

“Brick, Butch, Boomer”.

When Butch arrived, we learned that our father had choked on the smoke, and I, trying to save him, was left with serious burns and a broken leg. I was eighteen, I took care of the funeral services, I stayed strong in front of my brothers, the one who suffered the most was Butch, since he had been so eager to see him again to give him a large sum of money that he earned so that he could afford to give the old man a rest. But we had to use that money to buy the coffin and the expenses of the cemetery.

After a week, when we were back at the bakery, we learned that the fire was arson, but we could not bring charges against the culprit, so we were given a huge amount of money in return. That amount was equivalent to a year's profit from our bakery. However, was that money going to bring our father back? Of course not, we wanted names. That name of the culprit never came to us, but Butch was the one who took it upon himself to find out. We told him not to do it, not to expose himself to something worse... He didn't listen to us, he kept on trying to find out the name. He went to the police, said he was coming on our behalf and that we were going to accept the money. If I had known that this was how we would get the name, I would have handled everything myself from the first instance, I don't know how I didn't think of it.

It turns out that my idiot brother not only had an argument with the son of the high command, they almost got beaten up. According to Butch, the kid was giving them a thousand and one orders, everyone was listening to him, yet when he tried to give him orders, my brother refused, since he had been hired for one thing only, not to "spoil ugly, comfortable kids like him”. The problem was when the high command arrived saying that everyone should obey his son. Nobody likes humiliation, come on, my brother is temperamental and the truth is that, in that case, I would have done the same. Everything almost exploded when the rich boy told him:

“You need the money, so if you don't want to go without any money, just fucking listen to me”.

After I almost wanted to hit him, the guy told my brother that he would pay for such daring, but not with his own life. The guy who threw the device that he thought started the fire in our home was a kid who was paid to do it. When Butch found out about all this, he went to the boy's house, I don't know how the hell he got past all the security at that filthy, disgusting mansion, but he got inside, and when he found him completely unprotected, Butch beat him, beat him, and beat him until he was seriously injured. It was then that Butch finally mourned the death of our father. Do you think that's how things ended? Of course they didn't.

Butch was sued, the sentence should have been simple, but he was given nine years in prison. Yes, nine. They added a record of violence, some neighbors went to say my brother had robbed them, the asshole who lived across the street said Butch had beaten him up too, but out of fear he hadn't reported it. We didn't have money for a private lawyer, and the one who took over my brother's case seemed to have no intention of helping him. There are still four years left, and the truth is that since I heard the sentence, I haven't spoken to Butch again, while with Boomer we had to move out of there a month after the event because of the constant threats we received and the attacks on our home which was in the process of being rebuilt, whether it be broken glass, festering, in short. The last time I saw my brother, in tears, I told him I would look for him when I had enough money to pay Butch's bail. To this day, I'm halfway there, and hopefully I'll soon have all the fucking money. When I do, I'll not only get him out of that hellhole, I'll get back together with Boomer, and the three of us will be on our way... I'll only live again when I have my brothers by my side”.

When Brick finished his story, he licked his lips and looked at the girl. She covered her face, he was surprised. He scratched the back of her neck, looked again at the street to see if a bus was in sight. As he turned back to the girl, he noticed that she was already discovering her face a little. Her eyes were swollen, the tip of her nose was a little red, he thought of saying something to her, but she beat him to it.

“You are admirable…” said the girl with the broken voice. “Telling all that story without shedding any tears. You suffered a lot, Brick, you suffered a lot," she covered her face with both hands.

Brick left the girl's bag at her side, knelt down and sighed trying to get her attention.

“Don't cry," he said and placed a hand on her head, "you don't have to cry”.

“It's very sad”.

“Don't cry," he insisted, "please," then looked out into the street. “Here comes your bus. You'd better take it, I don't want you to miss it”.

“Brick," she stood up, "can I see you when I get back to this town?”

“You know where to find me," he smiled and she wiped away her tears. “I will be waiting for you”.


	4. O3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I wonder if you are too good to be true,  
> and would it be alright if I pulled you closer.

Nerves, anxiety and the permanent desire to go to the toilet as a consequence of the first thing, made Blossom unable to take her trip back to the village, which from that very moment on would become her home. She bought a small house near the mountain, the view was perfect and inspiring, as it was a country house, it was far from the others in the area so she could practice without the problem of disturbing any of her neighbors. She was happy, in fact, she thanked her father for helping her with the tip and swore that she would pay him back every cent he had given her for the difference in value she had originally quoted. She knew that when she arrived in town there were two things waiting for her to do: fix and sort out her new home, and go to Brick's store.

They had promised, hadn't they? That when she came back, she would visit. She remembered very well, she said goodbye to him in tears while the bus was leaving, and he, with his serious countenance, waved goodbye. She had cried because he hadn't. How was that possible? Then she thought that maybe Brick hadn't cried because, as she understood, he had to stay strong in front of his brothers, after all, he is the older brother and was in charge of their welfare. Blossom couldn't help but wonder how much pain Brick must have been holding inside.

The day finally arrived, with Robin helping her, she was able to get her house in order in a day and a half - she had to take a well deserved rest, come on - and so she could go quietly that Saturday to see Brick, and Mitch, of course. She thought she could stop by before noon to invite them to lunch. If the store was empty, it wouldn't be a problem for her to visit them, would it? She dressed up in a pink dress, black shoes, thought about wearing a hat but found it too much, so she just grabbed her glasses and left her new home on her way to the Pottery B store. Big was her surprise when she noticed that the store was not as empty as she had predicted, not that it was full, five people were inside, she could see Brick showing off the dishes while Mitch seemed busy on the phone. Would it be a good idea to just barge in? Blossom didn't think so, so she thought she'd better go buy them lunch and surprise them.

She didn't know what they would prefer for lunch, so she brought variety, trying to respect the food pyramid, she just hoped that they would accept the detail and, the truth is, she wished with all her being, that Brick could receive her with open arms, so she would give him the hug she regretted not giving him when he told her his regret.

"Excuse me? Can I come in?" said Blossom, opening the door.

Mitch turned to her, had a huge tired expression, but when he saw her, he smiled broadly and bowed a little.

"What an honor it is to have you in this humble store, Miss Utonium!" said the boy.

"Call me Blossom, just Blossom! Have you eaten yet? Because I brought food," she showed him the green bag she had with her.

"Do you want to go to my house and eat, Mitch? I can make something quick," said Brick as he entered the room, not noticing the girl was there. "Blossom, wow, hi," he smiled. "It's great to see you, what are you doing here?"

Brick had his hair down to his shoulders, he was wearing dark jeans and a white T-shirt. Maybe because she hadn't seen him in a month, but she noticed him thinner, a little more haggard, yet she still thought he was a handsome man, very handsome.

"You were the one who told me to come and see you when I got back. Well, I'm here now, yesterday I finished settling in my new home, you should meet him some day! Let's set a date. Anyway," raised the bag, "have you eaten yet?"

"Boss! It smells delicious!" exclaimed Mitch. "If you want we can go to my place".

"No, no," said Brick. "Come on, my place is literally up here. Blossom, tell me how much all that food cost you, it's quite a lot".

"Please don't take care of everything," she said with a low tone of voice, trying to play hard to get. "This is  _ my _ invitation, don't get involved and just accept it, okay?"

Brick had no choice but to accept the invitation, offer his stay and lead them to it. Brick's apartment was small, comfortable enough for one person. He always kept it tidy, not like he had a lot of furniture, he had a second-hand sofa, a plant by the window that was covered only with a thin curtain, the table had three chairs, Blossom understood that he didn't need more, he didn't have a television or radio. The kitchen was on one side of the entrance, while the room - the one he assumed was - was in a corridor, facing the bathroom. He didn't need more space than that.

They put the food on plates, from the white meat to the vegetables, everything was comfortably distributed and arranged for the enjoyment of the three of them. Mitch was in charge of guiding the conversation, he was a very good talker, Brick was the one who ended up stating what he was saying. They told Blossom that business was going well, too well, since they had that successful sale with Mr. Flower, word of mouth spread and after a few days, more people came, orders were placed and the name "Pottery B" began to be recognized.

"We tripled our sales," said Mitch, "the boss sold all his porcelain products and had to do more, more and more. But people liked the clay better, so orders for vases were still the most abundant. The boss is sensational".

"You're great too," said Brick. "After all, you're the one who gets along best with the customers".

"What about you? Are you still a little surly with social relationships, Brick?" asked Blossom.

"Not at all," he replied, "now I'm helping with the service. All thanks to Mitch".

"The older ladies like Brick to take care of them because he's cute, but the younger girls prefer me. They say I have a natural glow," Mitch added, making the girl laugh.

"I'm glad you're doing well," she said, then her face changed from a smiling one to one a little more serious. "Haven't you thought about expanding the business?"

"What do you mean?" Brick asked.

"What if you open another store? In this town, or in another town. Guys, if you expand, the business could expand its profits," she stared at Brick, "and you'd be closer to achieving your goals, if you know what I mean".

"Speak with confidence, I have no secrets from Mitch".

"Okay, but are you following my lead? Brick, if the store gets bigger, you'll be able to raise the money for Butch's bail in less time than estimated".

"Boss, that's exactly what I wanted to talk to you about," said Mitch, leaving his fork with the broccoli on his plate. "There's an enclosure available in a neighboring town, in Megaville" Brick broke down. "Do you remember when you said the store was getting cramped? Well, I looked in the newspaper for rental spaces. Here they are, but they're expensive compared to the size. In Megaville, the enclosure is almost the same size as this one, it's a little longer, and the truth is that you pay the same as in the current store".

"In Megaville?" he muttered. "God..."

"Is something wrong?" asked Blossom, touching the boy's arm. "Why do you have that face?"

"Boomer is in Megaville. The last thing he told me was that he got a job as a cook in a restaurant. That was before we separated, three years ago," he replied. Blossom was able to feel his body shaking. "N-No other choice?"

"What's wrong, boss? If there's Boomer, isn't that a good thing? You can see it," Mitch was trying to convince him, but the truth is he was worried about the look of terror Brick was putting on. "Boss?"

"I left Butch," he said quietly, "then Boomer... I've always been afraid to get back in touch with them, because for sure, if I see them, I'll fall apart and feel incredibly guilty for not being a good enough big brother, for letting us go apart..." he raised his head and looked at them both. "Tell me, with what face am I going to see my brother?"

"It's okay to cry," said Blossom, Brick covered his face. "Let it out, Brick".

"I love those two," said Brick, as Mitch took his shoulder in support, "I love them like you wouldn't believe, but I don't deserve to just show up in their lives".

“Don't think that way, boss, please," Mitch said. “Since I met you, you have worked with a clear objective: to get your brother out and bring him with you, at your side, as well as Boomer. You're a good brother, come on, don't pull so much crap you don't deserve. If we take the Megaville store, you can see your little brother, know how he's doing, for sure he misses you too. He will be able to see that, during all the time you were in solitary confinement, you were working, come on, I don't think he thinks badly of you. Don't you do it either”.

“Brick," she said, and at that moment he discovered his face, he wasn't crying, but his eyes had become a little irritated, "do you think it's a good option to keep running and filling your head with doubt? You miss them, they miss you. Opening the store in Megaville will bring you closer to one of them, to Boomer. It's a step, Brick, a step that will allow you to reconnect with him, in fact, I'm sure he longs to see you too, you and your other brother. Why don't you consider this a sign, an opportunity given to you by destiny?”

“I'm afraid," said the boy. “I don't know how to explain it, I don't know what to do”.

“What you have to do is take this, don't let this opportunity pass you by. You're suffering because you can't see or be with your brothers," she continued, "so take the fucking first step, Brick, expand your store, rent that place in Megaville, look for your brother. Have you ever communicated with Butch?”

“I always write him letters, but I'm not brave enough to send them,” Brick didn't look at anyone, he just stared at his empty plate. “I don't know how I could feel if I got an answer from him”.

“Nonsense!” exclaimed the girl. “Okay, enough with the fucking moaning. Mitch," he looked at her, "go and call the place, lest someone take it first. Ask for the price, if it's still the same, and if we can see it before we close the deal, however, let them know we're very interested, you know”.

“Yes," said Mitch, standing up, "boss, do you agree?”

“I'm not sure," he replied.

“Do you really want to miss an opportunity? It's a call of fate," insisted Blossom. “Will you let it go?”

Brick looked at her, she took his hand and shook it. He took a big breath of air, looked at Mitch, and nodded slightly.

“Do it, Mitch," he said, "before I chicken out again”.

Mitch took his jacket, the keys to the store and left the floor on his way to the store, where he could freely use the phone to make the call. Brick slid into the chair, released Blosom's hand and ran both hands over his face, sighed heavily, she kept looking at him.

“Don't look at me, I don't want to cry," he said.

“Do you have the letters you wrote to your brother?”

“Yes, I still have them”.

“Okay, then, when you're ready, you'll send them. You suffer for not being able to help him, he suffers for being a burden, for accepting such a horrible fate. He must feel alone, maybe guilty”.

“He's not guilty of anything," Brick said.

“Let him know how much you love him. When you feel the urge, but don't want to do it alone, talk to me and I'll go with you to the post office. I swear I will go with you, no matter what the time. Communicate with Butch and take the burden off your shoulders, remove that doubt, show him that you love him and tell him everything you have achieved, that you will wait for him with open arms when he comes out of there”.

Brick stood up under Blossom's watchful eye. He tightened the bridge of his nose, she noticed he was shaking. He uncovered her gaze and gave the girl a weak smile.

“If you want you can go with Mitch, he may need help with the call. I'll be right down," he asked Blossom.

“Let me clean up," she stood up.

“No, please, I'll do it," Brick's voice broke. “The truth is, I need some time alone. Can I count on you to help Mitch?”

Blossom hesitated for a moment, but who was she to deny Brick some privacy? She ended up giving in, grabbing her purse under the watchful eye of the homeowner. They stared at each other, none of them saying anything.

“I'll be right down," Brick said. I'll brush my teeth," he placed his hand on her head and waved his fingers, giving her affection that way.

Without saying more, he hurried to the door that corresponded to the bathroom. Blossom wanted to help him, so she picked up the plates and food containers anyway, leaving them in the dishwasher and the trash, respectively. She tried to do it as quickly as possible, not wanting Brick to discover her on the floor when he came out of the bathroom, but she realized that at no point did she hear the brushing or the water opening. She only heard one sound, one that made her eyes water: a sobbing sound that drowned in the throat of the person who was emitting it, as if he were holding back.

“You are strong," she muttered, "and the strong also cry”.

After that, she left the floor to do what Brick had asked her to do. She hoped her eyes wouldn't show what she had felt, so she wouldn't have to go around commenting to Mitch about something she wasn't supposed to hear.

**.  
.**

The truth is that it was hard to convince the owner of the premises to rent them, he thought he could rent them for a clothing store, or a food store, at least, it never crossed his mind that a pottery store would be interested or showy on Megaville Boulevard. But because of the insistence, and the fact that they had all the money for the guaranteed rent and the month's rent he was asking for, the owner ended up accepting and now they were finishing cleaning and adapting the store, from the warehouse to the shelves where they were going to put the products. Since Blossom was not on trial, since she was on vacation, she helped them with the cleaning and also to quote vehicles with which they could move the products from one city to another. They weren't far away, the distance was just under an hour, however, Brick avoided going, he would order from Mitch while he stayed to tend to the main store, handle orders and interview potential new workers.

At 3 p.m., Blossom and Mitch arrive at the store, and Brick offers them something to drink, but they refuse. The store was out of customers, so they were able to take a break. They told Brick that the store was ready, all that was left was to bring the rest of the merchandise and they could open the "Pottery B" store in Megaville, and that he didn't have to worry about security, since it was installed. An hour passed before an elderly couple arrived, in search of a vase. Mitch answered them, no problem, then the phone rang and Blossom was in charge of answering the call and taking the order of porcelain that had been entrusted to them.

“I'll have to give you a contract as a worker," Brick said when she hung up. “You've done too much, you should get your paycheck”.

“I wouldn't mind being the vice president," she joked.

“I'll figure out your fee later," he said. "Now I'd better go start painting the porcelain”.

The door opened, Mitch turned his head, even with the vase, which showed the couple, in his hands, and then looked at Brick, who didn't realize who had entered the store.

“Miss Morebucks," said Mitch, "welcome”.

Hearing that name, Brick turned quickly to watch his ex-girlfriend close the door of the store. Tall and thin, her curly hair was slightly taken, wearing a yellow blouse that carved her figure, as well as a long purple skirt, at first glance her look seemed defiant, rough and somewhat arrogant, however, when her eyes met Brick's, her gaze softened and the freckles that adorned her face gave you the feeling that you were looking at a picture of a girl who regretted some mischief.

“Hi, Brick," she said, "can we talk?”

Brick didn't hesitate for a moment, nodded his head and made his way through all the pottery to get to her.

“Let's go to my workshop, if you don't mind”.

Princess nodded, walked after Brick, greeted Mitch with a little nod. When she saw Blossom at the inn, she made the same gesture. Blossom looked at the scene in confusion, her expression didn't change until Brick closed the door to his workshop, looked for Mitch and he implied that he would tell her later, with a wave of his hand.

“I'm surprised to see you here," he said, in a calm tone. “I thought you never wanted to see me again in your life”.

“The letter was a bit violent, wasn't it?” she replied wearily. “I don't even remember what I put on you”.

“To what do I owe your visit?” Brick took the handkerchief and tied it over his head, clearing his forehead.

“Why aren't you angry? I treated you very badly in that letter where I asked you to end our relationship”.

“There's no point in treating you badly, after all, decisions are decisions, and if you're here today it's because you want to tell me something, isn't it?”

Princess was uncomfortable, Brick was still preparing his materials to work on the porcelain painting, he was looking for his brushes and the pink, green and white paints. Having no answer, he turned to her and was surprised to see her pout and that embarrassed expression she had.

“Are you okay?”

“I'm sorry," she muttered, "I'm sorry for what I said to you, Brick, I didn't mean to do it. I never wanted to leave you waiting, I never wanted to write down everything I wrote”.

“What are you talking about?”

“My father found out about our meetings, he forced me to cut off all relations with you. I had to send you that letter, in addition to promising that I would never see myself again with you, and if I didn't come until now, it's because I just arrived in this city after spending some time in the Cloister where one of my aunts is. Being involved with you meant a disgrace, I had to clean up the so-called sins I committed, and now I have to keep my head busy with learning about business with my father. They have me suffocated, I can't have a moment's freedom, and it's all because they don't want me to be seen with you”.

“But you are here," Brick says, "seeing you with me, locked up in my workshop. Your father won't like this idea”.

“I'd like to say I don't care, but the truth is I do. I don't want you to misunderstand me, but I have a lot to lose”.

“Hey, it's okay, I don't want to reproach you, really. The truth is that I want to... no, I need to ask you something”.

Princess looked at him and nodded. Brick took a couple of steps towards her, although they were still keeping a safe distance from each other.

“You... Were you really interested in me?”

She looked away, crossed her arms and frowned slightly. Brick never considered Princess a bad person, he still remembers when he met her, she was crying in the main square, he offered her a handkerchief and sat down next to her. Not that he wanted to talk, but the grief the girl showed at that moment made him think that maybe she needed a little compassion. She was always demanding, he did not give any opinion against her, he always listened to her orders, in fact, she was the one who asked him to be her boyfriend, not him.

“Honestly," replied the girl, "I never liked you, Brick, and I think you knew that from the beginning”.

She was not wrong, the truth is that it was reciprocal.

“But being with you," she continued, "was an escape from my reality. I was in a sector where ‘someone like me’,” she made quotes with her fingers, “didn't come close, not for fun, at least. With you I enjoyed sunsets in the front row, food that I did not imagine existed, and I felt free to appear a sober personality that I did not want for myself. However, no, I never liked you, Brick”.

“All those negative treatments in your letter…”

“It was pressure from my parents," the girl interrupted, "the truth is that I only wrote what they said about you, because I couldn't think of anything bad or degrading”.

“That's all I wanted to know," he smiled.

Princess, when she saw that sincere smile on Brick's face, she couldn't hold back her tears and let them out. He didn't hesitate, he hugged her, letting her confidently rest her face against his chest.

Outside, Mitch was telling Blossom who Princess was, the girl was listening attentively, both nervous and hoping that Brick wouldn't surprise them. At no time did he make a bad reference to her, Brick did not use any negative treatment to refer to Princess when he told her about the letter, so it was not worth making a value judgment of a situation that he was not going to know completely or in depth.

After a few minutes, Princess and Brick leave the workshop, she bows back to Mitch and Blossom, who reciprocate and say a gentle "goodbye". Brick accompanies the girl to the door, in fact, they leave the store. Both Mitch and Blossom wanted to know what they were talking about, but had to be satisfied with just seeing their figures and their interactions.

“I hope we get another chance to see each other," said Princess.

“Come by anytime, or you can call the store. We'll open one in Megaville, maybe by going there we can meet without any problem," smiled Brick.

“Really? That's a great idea," she says, smiling slightly. “Let me know when you do, I want to be at the opening”.

“Shall I call you at home?”

“Just tell them that I'm being invited to the opening of a store in Megaville, don't give your name, you can make up that they want my face for the newspapers, or do I have to remind you that my image is something important?” she joked. “If you're nervous, you can tell Mitch to call, or if not," she smiled suggestively, "that girl there can make the call”.

“Okay, then I'll let you know," said Brick.

They said goodbye with a little bow, since physical contact would not be allowed for both of them, especially in public, she turned on her heels, but turned to Brick to tell him one last thing:

“If you need help with anything, let me know, I'll find a way to assist you, okay?” Brick nodded.

“I appreciate it”.

“But do it, huh? Don't come here to get proud or anything. If you need my help, I'll give you a hand." She pointed her finger at him, that's what she did every time she gave an order, and Brick smiled and nodded again. “Now, seeing the redhead inside your tent, she smiled at him, I'm glad you met someone who looks at you in such a tender way. See you later, Brick”.

“Huh?”

Princess had already arrived at the vehicle waiting for her, he couldn't ask her what she meant. He looked inside the tent, surprised Mitch and Blossom by seeing him, so they started checking papers and ballots as a way of pretending. Brick entered, passed them by, only smiled at them and shook his head, he had discovered them, it wasn't worth their while to try to disguise their actions. He entered the workshop and set to work. After about fifteen minutes, when he was finishing the details of the petals he had painted on the cup, he heard the workshop door open, letting a shy Blossom in.

“Can I talk to you?”

“Of course," he answers without taking his attention off his creation, "there is a chair next to the clay table that you can use”.

“What's the name of the girl who came?” she asks as she tosses her hair back before taking the backless chair she would use.

“Princess. I guess Mitch has already told you what kind of relationship she has... rather, she had with me,” he scowled slightly after changing to a thinner brush to touch up the edges of the leaves.

“How did you meet her?” Blossom sat at a distance from Brick, so that she could avoid kicking the table where he left his creations.

“Why do I always remember things from my past when I talk to you?”

“Won't you tell me?”

Brick scratched her forehead with the wooden tip of his brush, looked at Blossom and was surprised by her serious posture and countenance. He swallowed his saliva, nodded slightly and spoke to her:

“It's no big deal, either. She was crying in the minor square, I was moved, her crying seemed to have no comfort, people around ignored her, so I came closer, gave her a handkerchief and sat down beside her on that bench. We talked, I just asked her if she was okay and, well, things happened, we started to go out and, “he shrugged. “That's all”.

“She was the one who ended up?”

“Yep,” he grabbed another cup and started drawing the pink petals.

“Did it hurt?”

“A little”.

She stared at him, Brick was very focused, she was already thinking about leaving, but she certainly thought she could spend her whole life looking at that scene of Brick with his brush, carefully detailing, picking up a little more shade, bringing to life a dead white cup, which really seemed to be alive when he applied some color to it.

“You're good with paints, aren't you?” she suddenly said.

“Yes, I think so”.

“I stand corrected," she cleared her throat. “You're good with paints”.

“What you said didn't change much," he answered almost in a questiony tone.

“Yes, it did, because I didn't hesitate”.

“Okay," he laughed loosely.

“If you had to describe your life with colors," Brick looked at her, curious, "what would they be?”

He put the brush aside and looked at the questioning girl who was hiding her hands between her knees. He sighed, licked his lips, threw back his head, made a sound without separating his lips and nodded slowly.

“Purple, red, grey, white and black," he finally said.

“Cold colors... except for the red”.

“Yes, but those colors are from the past”.

“Did they change?”

“Yes," he took up his position, as did the brush, "they have changed since I saw an orange, pink and yellow sunset. There is no longer black, but blue and green; purple no longer bothers me," he took a breath. “If before my life was dominated by dark colors like black, now it is dominated by pink”.

When he mentioned that last color, Brick looked at Blossom in a very affectionate way, with a small smile on his face. At that, Blossom became nervous, she didn't blush, she fiddled with her hands before asking:

“And why are you looking at me like that?”

“Because the pink of that sunset is a color I only thought I would see in the sky”.

“What does that have to do with me?”

“That you have it in your eyes," he smiled confidently after that answer he gave without hesitation.

“What are you saying, come on... Did I mean something to you? A change in your life?”

“Yes," he answered more surely than ever, "you do, say it in the present, please, never in the past tense”.

**.  
.**

For the opening, Mitch, Blososm, Brick and Princess toasted with a glass of champagne, courtesy of Morebucks. The grand opening had been a success, they welcomed customers, sold numerous products and Brick already had orders to fill. They had managed to get more workers, so now Brick would have more company in his workshop, as the workers who would be making dinnerware in Megaville had to learn the technique that Brick had, along with the colors he used to use.

Making interviews and managing the opening of the shop took Brick a lot of time that he could have spent looking for his brother in the city, however, the legalities are something that must be fulfilled for the proper functioning. He was grateful for the support of Princess, who made a huge effort not to end up fighting with commercial agents who put obstacles in the way of opening a store or validating the commercial patent. While they were doing that, Blossom and Mitch were engaged in a particular mission: they wanted to find Boomer. In fact, Princess' collaboration was not only because she knew the business world better than Brick, it was also so that they could search with peace of mind, without one of them being in charge of something as heavy as the search for a blue-eyed blond who works in a food store.

Well, there are thirty food stores in Megaville and they had one day, besides that, they didn't know the city to know where to start. They were asking questions, as if they were hungry tourists, they tried their luck in ten places, but were not successful. After two hours, they went through seventeen and the hunger was beginning to manifest itself in their bodies.

“Let's go in there," says Blossom, "or I'll starve”.

“It's a small place," says Mitch, but Blossom already has him by the arm.

“Come on, let's go”.

Inside the place, the smell of vegetables and fruit mixed, and since they were so hungry, their stomachs began to crackle. The place was a bit empty, but since they would eat quickly to keep looking, Mitch pointed to the bar and they decided to sit there.

“The specialty seems to be sandwiches," said the girl.

“It's okay with me," answered a tired Mitch. "I'm really dying for a glass of water”.

“Welcome to Glitter Meal! May I take your order?”

They both looked at the young blond man with a white handkerchief on his head, they asked him for the menu to see the varieties as well as two orange juices, the young man nodded and bent down to pick up the menus, hand them over and told them he was already bringing them the drinks. They both opted for something simple and that did not require much time to prepare, so they continued quickly with their mission. When the young man returned with his juices and would take their order, Mitch was the one who noticed a detail.

“Order noted, I'll bring them to you in a moment," said the young man before he disappeared behind the door leading to the kitchen.

“Blossom," said Mitch, "his name is Boomer”.

“What is it? Is it him?” exclaimed the girl. “Oh, God, how did you know that?”

“He has a business card that says ‘Boomer’. Do you think it's him? I mean, he's also blond”.

“Let's wait until he comes out again, we'll call him and ask him directly," Blossom said.

It didn't take long, come on, he was just going to deliver an order of sandwiches. He went back to the bar, not looking at them. Blossom, meanwhile, took a closer look at his features, he had features in common with Brick, the eyelashes, the shape of the nose and the thickness of the eyebrows. Perhaps she was under the illusion of finding him, but what if it was him? Neither she nor Mitch would pass up the opportunity.

“Boy!” said Mitch. "Could you come here a moment, please?”

The young man nodded his head and went to him, leaving the glasses he had taken out on the bar.

“Can I help you?” He asked, and that's when Blossom noticed that the business card said ‘Hi, my name is BOOMER’ and that he also had blue eyes.

“The truth is, we only have one question. Would it be possible for you to help us with our dilemma as a couple?” said Blossom, making Mitch look puzzled.

“Oh," she looked both ways before leaning over the bar, "okay, if you're satisfied with me, tell me all about it before my superior sees me. I'm always willing to help anyone who's in trouble”.

“Okay," Blossom sighed, "my boyfriend, Mitch, is trying to convince me to go see my sisters. They live in Townsville, so that's not far from here," Boomer nodded, "so, well, I haven't seen my sisters in a long time, I haven't communicated with them, and that makes me nervous and even a little bit scared”.

“Here I insist to her that they are her sisters, that if she had to go away for work they would understand, that is, they are family after all," said Mitch, playing along perfectly.

“With what face should I go to them? I'm the oldest," said Blossom, "and all I did was walk away from them”.

Boomer listened carefully, his serious countenance didn't vary much, he was interested in the subject, until it was his turn to speak.

“You went your own way, didn't you?" he said to Blossom, she nodded. “Well, it's okay to achieve your goals, sometimes you have to say goodbye to people you love, because, I guess, you love your sisters”.

“I love them with my life," she replied.

“Well, you should go see them and tell them you achieved your goals," Boomer continued. “If it were me, I wouldn't mind being away from my brothers for a long time, just to see them again someday," he stared at her, she noticed he had the same look as Brick. “I would be angry if I never saw them again, I don't mind waiting years, just to hear their voices one more time…” she nodded slightly. “I can wait years for that moment”.

Boomer had to leave them for a few moments because new customers came to the bar. At that, Mitch and Blossom looked at each other, both nodded, but neither knew why they were doing it. Did they understand? Did they agree? Would they do the same? They just nodded. Boomer walked back to them with a tray in her hands.

“Here are your sandwiches," he said and placed the plates in front of them. “Enjoy them”.

“Before you go," said Mitch, "I want to ask you one last thing”.

“Tell me," he had turned to him, hugged the tray to his chest”.

“Do you know Brick Jojo?”

The look of surprise on Boomer's face was impossible to ignore. His eyes opened, his mouth opened, and he even lifted his shoulders. After a few seconds, Boomer took a few steps towards them, put the tray aside, rested the palms of his hands on the bar and babbled nonsensical syllables, he seemed unable to formulate a phrase that was the product of surprise.

“Did something happen to Brick?” he whispered.

“Brick is my boss," Mitch said. “Your brother set up a store where he sells pottery made by his own hands. He's doing so well that he's opened a store here in Megaville”.

Boomer couldn't hold on, threw his hips back, hid his head, clenched his fists, both Mitch and Blossom noticed his knuckles turning white and his hands shaking. She took his hand, and to her surprise, Boomer shook it, showing that he needed that restraint.

“It's okay to cry," she said. “Brick cried too, at the thought of seeing you again, and Butch”.

“The boss has wanted to see you guys for a long time, so he's worked for so long to raise enough money to bail Butch out and get the three of you back together," said Mitch, just as Boomer was drowning out a sob.

“Is Brick okay?” he asked with a choppy voice.

“He's fine," said Mitch, "the boss is fine”.

“Where is he now?”

Boomer didn't raise his head, he had to keep an image, after all, he was on the job, Blossom wouldn't let go of his hand, he didn't intend to let go of his grip either.

“What time does your shift end?” she asked.

**.  
.**

Friday night, the store in Megaville completed five days of work with great success. Sales were going as planned, seven concrete and four orders on average per day. At eight o'clock that day, Brick invited everyone for drinks to celebrate, from the new potters to Mitch, Princess and, of course, Blossom. Princess was anxious, since Blossom and Mitch told her that they had managed to find Boomer, they planned everything so that that Friday, when it was nine o'clock, Boomer would come through the door and give Brick the surprise, in fact, it would be a surprise for both brothers.

“Are you sure your driver won't get lost?” Blossom asked.

“How do you think! The people I work with aren't useless," Princess replied with a sigh. “Don't question me, is that clear?”

“I'm sorry, I'm just very nervous”.

“If you are nervous, imagine how I am. If my useless driver doesn't arrive on time, I'm going to fire him”.

Didn't you say that the people who work with you are not useless? thought Blossom.

Little by little, the workers withdrew, said goodbye to everyone, congratulated each other, and then crossed the threshold. Princess looked at the time on her pocket watch, it was already seconds to nine, she would knock the tip of her shoe against the floor, making Blossom more anxious, and Mitch more nervous, even more so when he was in charge of keeping Brick busy so he could be surprised as he had planned.

Finally, at nine o'clock, Princess looked at the glass door and noticed that her driver, the tall, dark-haired man was appearing, being followed by someone who appeared to have a jacket. She tapped Blossom on the shoulder, she looked in the direction she indicated and hurried to the door. As she opened the door, the driver of Princess stepped aside, Blossom could see a nervous Boomer, smiled tenderly and extended her hand, then looked at the driver and whispered a ‘thank you’.

“Go on, Boomer," she whispered to the boy, "say hello to your brother”.

Brick was turning his back on them, Mitch had already noticed Boomer's presence, but the latter was supposed to take the first step, or so they thought. Only they were left: Princess and her driver, Blossom, Mitch, Brick and his brother. The latter took a big breath of air, Blossom tapped him on the back to get him in the mood. He took another deep breath, took a couple of steps, and was about to talk to her, however, Brick noticed that Mitch was looking behind him, so, curious, he turned to see what or who was grabbing his attention. As he saw those blue eyes, filling with tears, he felt his own eyes crystallize from the tears as well. There was no doubt that the image he was seeing was fucking real, very real. Boomer looked more mature than before, he was still a little shorter, his freckles on his nose still gave him the childish touch. Brick thought he wouldn't be able to stand, actually, he wanted to kneel down and cry in front of his little brother's figure.

“Boomer," he muttered, "forgive me," was the first thing he said to her”.

The younger one broke into tears and hugged his older brother, who reciprocated the hug. Mitch walked away from them, giving them the space they needed, and approached the two girls, who did their best to hold back their tears. The crying of these brothers was so powerful that they managed to acclimate the atmosphere. Princess' driver told her that it was time to leave so as not to arouse suspicion in her home so, holding back her brittle voice, and her obvious tears, she asked Mitch and Blossom to say "goodbye" to both brothers for her and to apologize, but she had to "go back to her lie". Mitch was able to see that, as soon as Princess left the premises, she broke down in tears.

“Forgive me for leaving you alone all this time," Brick kept saying, while Boomer kept crying, "forgive me, Boomer, forgive me”.

“No," said Boomer with difficulty, "it's all right. It's all right, Brick. I love you, I love you so much”.

“I love you”.

Blossom hugged Mitch, he tried to comfort her, it was hard not to be moved by the painting they were witnessing. After a while, the brothers calmed their crying, Mitch gave them a glass of water, which they put aside, as they sat down and began to talk, to catch up. There was no hurry for them to return to the town they called home, so Blossom and Mitch kept their distance, the brothers needed their privacy before including them in their conversations. They hadn't seen each other or communicated in years, they needed their space, they talked about their working conditions, their living conditions, Brick had to tell him that Mitch and Blossom weren't really dating, etc.

“With all this stuff you've done," Mitch said, "the boss is going to be even more pleased with you”.

“What are you saying," Blossom lowered his head, "or has he already told you what he thinks of my eye color?”

“Not only that," he said. “The boss keeps talking about you when you're not there. The first time was when he saw you dancing, he told me about that sunset situation, then I had to put up with it yesterday, after you accompanied him to the post office, damn it! He's really pleased with you”.

“I only did it because I thought it was right to do it. I saw him so sad, when he told me his story, I thought I could help him. Now, all my vacation time was spent helping him with this, and I feel it was so worth it," she sighed. “Now that I'm back to practice, I'll be more eager to finish up and see you again, especially Brick”.

“There is something that I find very curious, and it is that, the same day he saw you, one Sunday, he was in a melancholy mood, his appointment with Princess had failed, so to speak, he went to watch the sunset and found you, he returned home, however, he went out again a few hours later, can you believe that he wandered around until almost one in the morning? One of the ladies, whose son works as a guard in the shelters, was waiting for her son to arrive and that's when she saw the boss, I knew that from the lady's mouth, at first I didn't want to believe her, and when she told the boss, what do you think he said?”

“That it was true?”

“Yes, and when I asked him why he did that, he shrugged his shoulders and, I quote, ‘I was looking for some warmth on that cold night’, he said”.

“Oh, my... Did he feel abandoned?”

“Maybe," Mitch nodded, "the boss was vulnerable because he wasn't releasing his emotions”.

After a while, the brothers stood up, hugged each other again. Since Boomer had seen the time on his watch, Mitch and Blossom assumed they were going to say goodbye for the night. They approached the brothers to say goodbye to Boomer with a tight hug.

“We'll see you again," Mitch said, “now you can't walk away”.

“Of course not," said Boomer, "not when I know where to find him”.

“I told you it would be alright if you looked for your brother," Blossom said to Brick.

“You were the one with the initiative, weren't you?” asked the redhead, she nodded. “I figured, you're great, Blossom”.

Mitch excused himself to call the cab that would take them back to his hometown, while Boomer convinced Brick that he didn't need to take a cab, he would take the bus that would drop him off outside his residence. In the meantime, Boomer said goodbye to his brother again, promising to see him on Monday, since he had a busy weekend ahead of him. When the three of them were left, Brick thanked them. They told him that Princess was also involved, so he should thank her as well.

“Blossom," Brick said, "thank you for taking the initiative that I was so elusive about”.

“It's nothing, don't thank me, I would have done it a thousand times more if necessary, I would have found a way to get you together with your brother, even if he refused," said the girl.

Brick hugged her, she reciprocated and rested, comfortably, her head on the boy's chest, who, to her surprise, left a kiss on her head. Blossom's heart was beating fast, she didn't care if Brick noticed.

“Thank you," he muttered again, "thank you for everything, Blossom”.


	5. OX

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How could I know  
> One day I'd wake up feeling more  
> but I had already reached the shore.
> 
> Guess we were ships in the night.

Boomer goes to see them in the town where they live, he knows the store where all the success of his older brother began. The reason for meeting that day was not only to see each other, but they wanted to do some math to see how much Butch's bail was, considering that taxes change every year and, since the sentence was not low, the price of bail was not something that could be set either, but he was considered a high risk criminal, if they wanted to release him, the sum had to be high, very high. The minor was free that night, so he agreed to stay on the floor with Brick, so he had to wait until the store closed. Blossom would go to visit them after her rehearsal and the truth is that Princess also wanted to be present so she could introduce herself properly.

Brick's floor had never been so full, but despite the few chairs, they managed to fit themselves on the couch and certainly didn't need any space, the five of them were very comfortable, eating the food Blossom bought, and drinking what Mitch bought. It seemed like his home was finally coming to life, and frankly, he liked it. Everything was going great, Boomer was integrating smoothly into the conversation, Princess, as always, was looking at every detail of that apartment, while Blossom was not leaving Brick or Mitch's side. What neither of them predicted was that Princess Morebucks would pay attention to a folder that had been left on the side of the table. At first she thought, "Why didn't she keep it in her room? If they're store documents they should be well guarded," however, perhaps Brick forgot and left it there. Curious, she opened the folder and found the savings vouchers, a court order and other documents.

“What is all this?” she asked, looking at Brick. "Is this your bank account? What does this have to do with…”

“My goodness," said Mitch, "boss, why didn't you keep it in your room? Imagine if any of us turned over a drink, the documents would be ruined!”

“I forgot all about them," replied Brick, then looked at Princess. “Well, that's what you see. I've been collecting money to get my brother out of jail, we have to pay a huge deposit," he pointed out to his brother. “Boomer and I have been working and saving. We have almost thirty percent left to make up the total”.

Princess went back to check the papers, while Brick explained the situation to her by getting to the point, since he knew she didn't like the detours or the details that complemented them, she just liked the concrete information. She was focused, passing and passing the documents, frowning and lip-smacking, when Brick was silent, she left the documents on the table and exchanged her gaze between Brick and Boomer.

“Are you aware that, if you pay that bail, you are accepting your brother's guilt?”

None of them answered, they just looked at each other.

“Princess," said Blossom, somewhat timidly, as the girl spoke in a rather stern and demanding tone, "I think they had considered bail to be the most certain thing”.

“Not only that, but what choice did we have? The case was already closed," added Boomer.

“You can always open cases if you find evidence," Princess sighed. “Why don't you take the money you have for bail and get a good lawyer? They might even be able to file a complaint against the fucking judge who signed this disgusting conviction”.

It was the first time Brick heard Princess say a swear word. He was the most stunned, he hadn't thought about paying a lawyer, he considered it for a long time something unnecessary and useless, all because, after hearing the sentence, he thought he only had two options: pay the bail or wait for his brother to serve his sentence.

“If you get a lawyer," she continued, "you can gather evidence, he can make observations regarding how much more of the sentence was executed if it was bought with the charges you filed”.

“Do you have anything to document the attempted bribery with?” Blossom asked.

“Yes, it's something we wanted to submit as evidence, but were denied," Boomer replied. “I still have that document”.

“Does the document have any signatures?” asked Princess, to which Boomer nodded. “Okay, then let's get a lawyer, I'll tell my father to give me the best contacts he has, that man owes me a favor, what better way to collect it," she stood up and reached for her purse”.

“Where are you going?” Brick asked.

“Isn't it obvious? I'm going home, the sooner I talk to my father, the better for everyone," she smiled contentedly. “I'll contact you as soon as I get the names. It would be nice if you could gather evidence, but how could it be…”

“Any proof that Butch worked at the mine?” suggested a dubious Mitch.

“It could be," Princess replied.

“I think it's a better idea to wait until we contact the lawyer," suggested Blossom, "he might be able to tell us what the next steps are. We're getting ahead of ourselves”.

“You're right, Blossom," Princess said. “All the more reason for me to go home. I'll let you know!”

**.  
.**

Three months was what delayed the opening of the trial, from insistence to the evidence with which they would prove that the conviction was outside of what the law allowed. The lawyer was a rather insistent woman, about forty, with straight dark hair. When they met her, they found her to be a kind woman, but the moment they accompanied her to the prosecutor's office that would handle the case, they noticed that she was a serious woman who was well committed to her work and everything it entailed. Keane, the last name the lawyer carried, managed to get a hearing set: them against the judge who signed a "ridiculous and unprotected" sentence, in the lawyer's own words.

Boomer and Brick were in the audience, and the person sitting next to Keane would be Butch, the same one they hadn't seen in years. When the door opened and they saw the boy entering the courtroom dressed in an orange suit, it caused the sadness of both brothers who looked at him with concern. Boomer couldn't hold back the tears, he broke down in tears as soon as he saw him, Brick, meanwhile, shook his hand while looking for the touch of an unconditional Blossom, who also shook his hand. The image of Butch, at that moment, was far from what they had believed at first: he was very thin, his cheeks were a bit hollowed out, he still had his permanent dark circles under his eyes, but now they were more noticeable than before, and, which caused a great deal of lament among the brothers, a thick and long scar appeared on his face ranging from a couple of centimeters below the left eye area to the jaw, in a diagonal fashion. Butch, upon seeing his brothers, smiled at them as always, as if he were coming home, as if he were not being part of a trial. He was acting naturally, and that caused a mixture of emotions and feelings for his brothers. Even as the years went by, for Brick, he still looked like the temperamental teenager he always was.

During the three sessions that the case lasted, attorney Keane worked hard to demonstrate that the law enforcement had been under some higher entity, because it was not possible that, for violent conduct, the sentence would be nine years, the maximum risk being three years, the impossibility of leaving the country and, in her logic, a restraining order, which would condemn them to leave the city, but the prison for so long was linked to cases where death occurs, in addition to being blamed for burning his house, he was basically told that he was a person with psychopathic behavior and had not even been followed up on his psychological behavior.

“There are many gaps in this case, Your Honor, and none of them correspond to my client's behavior," said the woman. “This young man, who lost his father, just wanted to get justice, he didn't want anyone to be blameless in his father's case, he didn't want anyone to wash their hands of it by giving them money, which he wouldn't give back to his father. The request and the reason we decided to open this case is simple: we want Butch Jojo's sentence to be carried out and, moreover, we have to file a complaint for bribery”.

At the last session, which would be the shortest since the sentence would be handed down, everyone was nervous. Princess had attended, hidden from her family, of course, and had sat in the most distant seating arrangements, so she would not attract so much attention, at least that's what she wanted to believe, while Brick and Boomer were in the front row, on their brother's side, and next to them was Mitch and an exhausted Blossom, who had arrived late after convincing her boss that she had to attend the trial.

The introduction and presentation of the charges took an extremely long time, and they were just waiting for the results. Boomer was hiding his face behind his hands, at the same time he was swinging, Brick was keeping his eyes fixed on his brother's back, he was only thinking about making sure he would recover all the muscle mass he had lost due to the bad nutrition he had been carrying and, possibly, to the bad times, he did not want to imagine all that he had to live in that place. Attorney Keane was taking notes, she assured the two Jojo brothers that if the result was not favorable, they would file the complaint before the National Court of Justice, they had the names of everyone involved and that's where they had it all to gain.

"Unless you want to avoid public embarrassment," the lawyer told them, he recalled.

“This court,” said the judge, after the extended summary of the trial, “has determined that the defendant Butch Christopher Jojo was tried and sentenced to an unreasonable sentence with respect to the charges assigned to him. Therefore, the consensus was reached that the defendant had already served his maximum sentence in the case of violence and violation of private property, so that the months of imprisonment should not exceed twenty months. Given the negligence presented in the initial sentence, the corresponding legal actions must be taken for the payment of compensation to the accused. The accused present, as of today, is released, without conditions”.

The emotion felt by Brick and Boomer at that moment was enormous, but even so, they could not embrace their brother who was crying without apparent consolation. Nevertheless, the next day, at ten o'clock in the morning, both brothers were waiting outside that bleak prison compound. Blossom could not be present, but Princess did, she offered to drive them (actually, her driver was in charge of the transportation) to their home when the boy was released.

The door opened, Boomer held on to Brick's arm, Butch came out accompanied by a man who opened the door for him and closed it once the boy carrying a black bag that looked almost empty was outside. He had wet hair, you could tell it was uneven, the dark circles under his eyes did not go away, it seemed as if the confinement had taken away his melanin, the thick scar stood out on his face with that pink color giving him an appearance that he did not want to claim, but the moment he noticed his brothers, he smiled at them and ran to them, being Brick the one who received him in his warm arms, Boomer joining him later and breaking into tears. Something could be heard from Butch's mouth, as if he were making an effort to apologize to them, but neither of his two brothers forced him to speak, he, more than the two of them, was excited and happy to see them again.

“You're free," Brick told him, "you're already out there with us, that's all that matters now,” the tears were falling, but he was happy, because he was finding his brother's warmth again. “The three of us are together, just like the old man wanted”.

“Forgive me," Butch said between tears, "for everything”.

“Don't apologize," said Boomer, "please. It's all right, it's all right”.

For years Butch had longed for his brothers' warm embrace, to hear them tell him they loved him, and more than that, to be able to enjoy the same sunshine they did.

Butch met Princess and the first thing he said to her was that her name matched her appearance, and that she seemed an extremely pretty girl. She received the compliment with a smile that tried to show superiority, but the truth was that the blush on her face played against her. On Brick's floor, waiting for their arrival, Mitch was waiting for them with fruit, hot drinks, everything so Butch could eat and be nourished from his first meal out of jail. In the evening, Blossom stopped by to see them and was obviously looking forward to meeting the brother she had heard about. He turned out to be a very nice boy, one who, despite having had a few horrendous years inside a compound where he wasn't supposed to be, was smiling at everyone, radiating the happiness that was denied and deprived him during that time.

**.  
.**

After a few weeks, Butch would work with his older brother, making sure the store was spotless. After being in a place where the hygiene was not very good, he couldn't stand any corner with dirt or that didn't smell of cleaning products. He became very close to Mitch and together they went to see Blossom after her rehearsals and obviously insisted that she tell them when she was going to show up so that they could buy the first tickets. And when a little over a month passed, they moved to a bigger apartment, near the river, having, Brick, total access to the most beautiful sunsets. They wanted to inaugurate their apartment with a quiet dinner, inviting the unconditional Mitch, Princess and, obviously, on Brick's list had to be the girl who didn't leave him since he opened up to her: Blossom Utonium.

Brick was amused by how the painting he was seeing, of everyone laughing, Boomer asking a shy Princess to dance while Butch was doing it with Mitch, gave him a joy he thought he had forgotten, that he would never live or in the near future. On that night where the autumn chill was already beginning to be felt, he went out to the balcony, with his glass of sangria in one hand, leaned against the railing and took a deep breath of air before sipping his drink. Blossom realized he was there, so she didn't miss the opportunity to have an intimate moment with Brick, she went outside and stood next to him. The boy smiled, he knew she would soon appear, and to be honest, it didn't bother him, the girl's company had become so common that not having her by his side, gave him the impression that something was not right.

“I'm very grateful," Brick began to say, surprising the girl, "grateful to everyone. From Mitch, for being a very loyal worker, from Princess for, in her own way, giving me her opinion regarding decisions, besides recommending us a good lawyer,” he stopped looking at the river and looked straight at her. “And to you, for always, always,” he emphasized, “being here for me, making me see what I couldn't by myself.You helped me find Boomer even when it wasn't your place to do so, and you accompanied me in dropping off the letters to Butch," he sighed. “I'm very grateful to you," he reached over to run her hair down her face a bit, thus settling it behind her ear, "too much, really. I don't know how I'm going to pay you back, because the money will never be enough. And to think that it all started when I saw you out there,” he looked at the river again and, with his index finger, pointed northwest from his position, “practicing your dance”.

“I've improved a lot," she said, "you should come and see me”.

“Of course I will," he said and took a sip of sangria, "and if you show up in Megaville, I will get tickets to see you too”.

Blossom didn't look away from Brick, he was enraptured by the night scenery, the river was partly lit by the streetlights near it. The painting seemed to be full of dark colors, yet, to Brick, they were colors that could radiate warmth if the right element was found, and at that moment, Blossom's eyes radiated all the warmth that the landscape did not have. They were silent, the wind blew harder and it felt colder, making Blossom feel a chill that caught Brick's attention.

“Are you cold?” he said, she nodded. “Didn't you bring a coat?”

“I didn't think the night would be so cold," she admitted.

“If you want, you can go get a coat in my room, you know where it is," Brick offered. “There are sweaters, coats, scarves, gloves, earmuffs," he annoyed, causing the girl to slap his arm and laugh.

“I understand, I'll be right back," she pretended to be indignant, but couldn't contain her nervous laughter.

She went inside, the boys were still dancing, Princess was no longer shy. Blossom opened the door to Brick's room and turned on the light. She knew she would find it tidy, the boy had everything perfectly organized, you couldn't find a shoe lying on the floor as that wasn't where it belonged.Without turning around, she went to the closet and looked for a buttoned sweater, found a white one, thanked the heavens that it matched her blue blouse, took it out and threw away a couple of clothes. She left the sweater she would occupy on the bed and took the clothes to place them where they belonged, that's when she realized that Brick was hanging the scarves on the closet door, it made her laugh, until her eyes were fixed on a couple of red scarves. One of them was thicker and of a darker shade, the other was made of thinner material, cotton, the color was stronger, brighter, she touched the fabric and brought it closer to her nose. The unmistakable scent of her rose perfume came off the garment, once she brought it closer to her face, she could even recognize the texture of the scarf she had given to the man waiting next to her at the bus stop.

“There is something that I find very curious, and it is that, the same day he saw you, one Sunday, he was in a melancholy mood, his appointment with Princess had failed, so to speak, he went to watch the sunset and found you, he returned home, however, he went out again a few hours later, can you believe that he wandered around until almost one in the morning? One of the ladies, whose son works as a guard in the shelters, was waiting for her son to arrive and that's when she saw the boss, I knew that from the lady's mouth, at first I didn't want to believe her, and when she told the boss, what do you think he said?”

“That it was true?”

“Yes, and when I asked him why he did that, he shrugged his shoulders and, I quote, ‘I was looking for some warmth on that cold night’.” 

She recalled the conversation she had with Mitch the day Brick met Boomer. Still with the scarf in hand, Blossom began to recapitulate the coincidences she had with Brick: the day they met on the bridge, when she found the store where he works, and now it turns out that there was a meeting of the two previous ones, she had given him her scarf. Meeting three times meant it was fate. Her heart began to beat strongly, a huge smile was drawn on her face, and the desire to jump for joy wanted to take hold of her. She left the scarf in place, put on the sweater and left Brick's room. She would make up something to talk about it.

“I came back," said Blossom, pulling up the sweater and standing next to the boy who was still looking in the direction of the river. “What are you thinking about?”

“Memories, as always," he shrugged and smiled slightly at the girl. “When we were kids, my brothers and I used to make paper boats on rainy days, so the moment the rain stopped, we would go out and, well, next to the berm there was always a, let's say, river, so we would leave our boats on that ‘river’,” he made the quotation mark with his fingers, “and we would see which of the three boats was the fastest to the finish line”.

“And who earned the most?”

“No one. They would end up sinking or getting stuck in the street mud before reaching the finish line”.

They both laughed, Brick turned his eyes to the river, Blossom was left admiring the boy's profile, however, she settled down like him, next to him, their arms were touching each other, and she looked at the river, just like Brick did. She burst out laughing, the tingling sensation in her stomach appeared, just as her heart rate accelerated as a result of her nerves.

“Did you know that paper boats have a meaning?” she said. Brick looked at her, but she didn't look away from the river. “They are supposed to symbolize passing encounters, like when two boats meet at night, signaling to each other with the lights to avoid collisions, passing from one to the other. Now, paper boats have that meaning more powerfully because, well, there is the belief that “we all have to be boats on the sea of life’”.

“I had no idea," whispered Brick.

“Maybe you and I were just going to be ships passing through the night," she looked into his eyes, "but fate said otherwise”.

“Ever since you walked into the store you've been saying that about destiny," Brick smiled, "and I never really understood it”.

“If you and I had only met that day on the bridge, you would remember the color of my eyes and nothing else”.

“Maybe…”

“I showed up at your store, though”.

“And from there you were never far from me... Anyway, I count two meetings," said Brick, somewhat disappointed, "unless you consider when we waited for you outside the theater a third time”.

“There was a third time, one that neither you nor I knew was the other”.

“What are you talking about?” he frowned slightly.

“The same day you saw me rehearse, you went out for a walk and wandered the streets until the early hours of the morning,” Brick looked in, thinking that Mitch had gone off with a big mouth. “Could it be that you started lamenting at a bus stop?”

“Well, yes," he confessed, looking back at her, "it's true”.

“Someone gave you a red scarf, and that someone was me”.

“What?” He was surprised. “What do you mean it was you?”

“That scarf that's hanging on your closet door is mine, I gave it to a man who was mourning, and it turns out it was you”.

Brick didn't answer anything, he excused himself for a moment to leave the glass inside, but he came out quickly and closed the window a little, wanting to get a little more privacy. Blossom was still there, smiling, holding on to her sweater, he didn't know what to do or what to say. She laughed, seeing him so nervous seemed like a cute and cuddly scene, it wasn't like Brick to get so nervous, it didn't fit the personality he used to project.

“That scarf was the warmth I needed at the time, I felt it was such a kind act that, I'm a little embarrassed to tell you this," he scratched his neck, "but the truth is I held on to it once the bus left," Blossom smiled, it was definitely him. “The perfume it had is still a very pleasant fragrance to me. It happened," he licked his lips from the nerves he felt, "while I was there, it reminded me of the image I had of the color of your eyes," he looked away and ran a thumb down his nose, "you know, the color is... reliving the sunset”.

When he looked back at Blossom he noticed that the girl was covering her mouth with one hand, however, it wasn't hard to see that she was smiling. Brick wanted to play it cool, but he couldn't, he just couldn't. He exhaled hard and looked at the girl again before talking to her.

“It is incredible that we have met in such particular circumstances, and that now we are still here, but…”

“But now it's different," she added, "because everything that had tormented your past has disappeared”.

“Yes, it did," he continued to stare at her, nodded slightly and smiled. “It's a good thing our meeting didn't go the way that metaphor said”.

“It is destiny, and since I have now verified everything,” she took a step towards it, shortening the distance that separated them, “I can tell you, without fear and as many times as I want: I like you, I have waited months to tell you how I feel about you”.

Brick nodded his head, turned his eyes to the river, looked at her, then looked at the river again, until he laughed nervously. Meanwhile, Blossom leaned over to the side to get a better look at him, smiled at him and waited for a response, and was calm, as Brick's attitudes did not seem to show a rejection of her feelings.

“Well," he finally said, "I thought my feelings were one-sided”.

The animated music they were listening to inside the apartment did not accompany the moment at all, but that did not matter to them, because to express his feelings, Brick only needed a good landscape that allowed him to enjoy its colors, and he had everything he wanted with that scene. The tap dancer who managed to capture his attention when he was enjoying a beautiful and colorful sunset was in front of him, confessing his feelings.

“You and I met at sea," Brick began to say, "but my sea was quite stormy, that's when you appeared to help me navigate, and by your side, I was able to arrive safely at my destination, the mainland. Just as you have feelings for me, I have feelings for you. If we are paper boats, we are now sailing calmly on the calm water, I imagine it is just as calm as the river water, we can reach the shore without problems. I only hope that I can count on you again, just as you can always count on me”.

Both of them were encapsulated at the time, ignoring that there was a girl who, without any intention of gossiping, was watching them, and when she understood what was happening, she gave strict orders to the boys inside the apartment not to even think about going out to the balcony because, I quote: "the first one who ruins the moment, I'm going to hang him by his thumbs from the railing, is that clear?”.

Blossom again narrowed the distance, but it was Brick who took the initiative to intertwine their hands.Needless to say, they knew that the gestures and actions communicated the same thing as the words, the caresses Brick gave her hands with his thumbs were a sign of affection that Blossom had been imagining in her most recurring fantasies. Likewise, the softness and warmth of Blossom's hands seemed better to him than any idealization he had made when he first saw her. Needless to say, they knew that the gestures and actions communicated the same thing as the words, the caresses Brick gave her hands with his thumbs were a sign of affection that Blossom had been imagining in her most recurring fantasies. Likewise, the softness and warmth of Blossom's hands seemed better to her than any idealization she had made when she first saw her. Brick turned his gaze to the river, then looked at the girl and smiled warmly at her, she licked her lips, she was ready to talk:

“What if we went a little further?”

She broke the total distance that had separated them, took the boy by surprise, but he wouldn't go away, not even crazy; he stopped taking the girl's hands, so he could put them on her face, while Blossom held on to the black sweater Brick had been wearing. The kiss they shared that night did not taste bitter, nor did it seem as if they could distinguish the alcohol they had been drinking, they could only enjoy a sweetness that went beyond the plane of taste. After having gone through so many bad times, Brick could enjoy sweet moments, the kiss with Blossom being the clearest example of the sweetness that would start to fill what was his bitter life.

_ the end _


End file.
